HUNTSVILLE, AL -- Huntsville-area families will soon have some serious incentive to pump up their savings.

Impact Alabama, a nonprofit dedicated to helping the poor, is using the lure of a $20,000 U.S. savings bond to encourage families statewide to sock away money for the future.

Director Stephen Black said participants in the SaveNow WinLater program will earn one chance to win the grand prize for every $50 they invest in savings bonds during the upcoming tax season.

A random drawing to be held shortly after the April 15 tax deadline will determine the winner.

Black, grandson of legendary Alabama-born U.S. Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black, said all participants will come out ahead by saving money that can help them avoid turning to high-interest payday lenders.

"There's literally no downside to participating in this," said Black, who announced the initiative during a Huntsville City Hall news conference Tuesday morning.

Mayor Tommy Battle and Steve Kirkpatrick, president and CEO of the United Way of Madison County, also plugged the program as a no-risk way for families to create a nest egg.

"It's a program that would benefit everybody," Battle said.

Black said a similar "prize-linked savings" program in Michigan last year resulted in 10,000 families - some that had never before had a savings account - socking away nearly $9 million.

While the Michigan effort encouraged participants to buy certificates of deposit from credit unions, SaveNow WinLater is the first to push investment in U.S. savings bonds.

The bonds are widely available from most banks and credit unions; you can also purchase them by checking a form on your federal tax return.

Black said he hopes the program encourages lower-income families to invest part of their federal tax refund in savings bonds rather than spending it all. The average working family in Alabama receives $2,100 back from the federal government, he said.

SaveNow WinLater is open to families with children earning less than $50,000 a year, plus individuals and couples without kids making less than $25,000.

Black said the program grew out of Harvard economist Peter Tufano's research on prize-linked savings. Tufano's nonprofit agency was heavily involved in Michigan's Save to Win initiative and is also a partner in the Alabama effort.

Black, who heads the University of Alabama's Center for Ethics & Social Responsibility, said he checked with Alabama Attorney General Troy King to make sure the program does not violate anti-gambling laws.

He said King suggested adding an element of skill to the contest, so the family that wins the grand prize drawing will have to study for and pass a 20-question financial literacy test.